Wednesday, February 18, 2015

The Tapestry of the American Classroom Needs More Color

Mary has been teaching in an urban school for over 20
years. She describes her career, “I love
teaching where I do. I love the
community, the children, and my colleagues.
I have been growing more concerned, however, with the number of teachers
of color that are being let go, not being granted tenure, and leaving our
school.” Mary is a white teacher but
she teaches predominantly children of
color. Mary further states, “Losing my
colleagues of color is heart wrenching to me but I will tell you mostly it is a
huge disservice to my students of color who need to see people of color in
front of the classroom.” In 2012 there
were 3.3 million teachers in America.
According to the National
Center for Education Statistics 83% were white, 8% were Hispanic, 7% were
black, and 2% were Asian. When the
2007/2008 data was examined we found that 84% of teachers were white, 6.7 were
black, 6.9% were Hispanic, and 1.3% were Asian.
So, in a 4 year span we saw the small jump for our Teachers of .3%
points. We have a teacher diversity
problem in this country. In 2013 and
2014 children
of color became the majority in our public schools but 82%
of our teaching force is white. As a
nation we need to become concerned that the figure has not risen significantly
in over a decade. We need to be
concerned that although the populations of our students of color has grown
significantly the numbers for our teachers of color has not. What is perhaps most concerning is that in
2011, 59% of our
teachers of color taught in urban areas which has been the target of most
of the nations’ school closings.

Why do we have a teacher of color shortage? According to Richard
Ingersoll, an education professor and researcher at the University of
Pennsylvania, between 1988 and 2008 we had more teachers of color leaving
teaching then entering it. Why are so many teachers of color leaving the
teaching profession and why are so little entering the profession? LaRuth Gray, a scholar in residence at the
Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools at
New York University stated in an interview
for the Boston Globe, “Teaching used to be one of the few professions that
black college graduates could aspire to and make decent money but as the
country integrated and other professions opened their ranks, education lost its
cachet and fewer black students thought about becoming teachers.”

When Ivory A. Toldson conducted an analysis
of the top 10 occupations among black and white males he found that the No. 1
profession for college-educated black men was primary school teacher. Which
takes us back to the data on school closings;
Chicago, New Orleans, Detroit, and other major cities that have
experienced school closings, if we look back at the data that 59% of our urban
teachers are teachers of color, we can safely assume that the college-educated
black man, who chooses teaching in primary schools as their No. 1 profession,
are losing their jobs at a higher rate than their white counterparts. The
benefits of hiring and retaining teachers of color funnel to children in the
classroom and beyond. Research shows
us that when children have teachers of the same backgrounds they do better in
school, graduate at higher rates, and are suspended less. As well several studies in the
1980s and 1990s found that teachers of color elevate the self-worth of students
of color. An analysis
of the research by Sabrina Zirkel shows us that race- and gender- matched role
models have even more of an importance for our youth than providing them with
information about how to behave. Rather, the true importance lies in the fact
that such role models provide youth with a sense of place and value in the
importance of building the future.

How do schools become active in the process to hire and
promote teachers of color? The hiring process starts with the active
recruitment plans that involve a direct action plan, community involvement,
inclusion of all stakeholders, and partnering with organizations that actively
seek to employ persons of color. Active recruitment is not enough and action
planning must continue through the hiring process. Any hiring committee that is
formed needs to reflect the diversity, while including members of all
populations within the school, including student and parent representatives as
well as members of the faculty from all different staffing levels. The hiring
process should also actively involve the candidate as a member by allowing
viable candidates to fully examine the role they will be playing in the school
as well as an opportunity to discuss how they can fulfill and expand upon that
role.

After such an investment in the recruitment and hiring
process of teachers of color, to neglect support for the retention of these
teachers would be to invalidate the process as a whole. Review of turnover
rates and monitoring of progress towards attainment of diversity goals are
basic steps to analyzing success of these actions. But to proactively promote
the long-term employment of teachers of color, certain aspects need to be
identified and actively supported. Teachers of color need to be heard and they
need to be seen in our schools. They can play an active, and valued, role in
educating faculty and students about race and privilege. We have a diversity problem in our schools. The tapestry of the American classroom needs
more teachers of color. Children of
color need to see them and children who are white need to see them! The tapestry of the American classroom needs
to be diverse so that our children can experience the value of diverse role
models.